Cross-coupled thyristor SRAM circuits and methods of operation

ABSTRACT

A memory cell based upon thyristors for an SRAM integrated circuit can be implemented in different combinations of MOS and bipolar select transistors, or without select transistors, with thyristors in a semiconductor substrate with shallow trench isolation. Standard CMOS process technology can be used to manufacture the SRAM cells. Special circuitry provides lowered power consumption during standby.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/590,852, filed of even date and entitled, “Cross-Coupled ThyristorSRAM Semiconductor Structures and Methods of Fabrication,” both of whichclaim the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/055,582,filed Sep. 25, 2014, which is incorporated by reference along with allother references cited in this application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is related to integrated circuit devices having memoryfunctions and, in particular, to static random access memory (SRAM)devices.

From the invention of the integrated circuit in the late 1950's, circuitdesigns have been in constant development, particularly for integrateddevices, in keeping with the developing semiconductor technologies. Anearly technology was bipolar technology which, compared to laterintegrated circuit technologies, occupied much space on a semiconductorsubstrate surface and required large amounts of electrical current withresulting high power consumption. Later field-effect technologies,particularly MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) technology, usedtransistors which were much smaller than their bipolar counterparts withlower currents and consequently lower power consumption. CMOS(Complementary MOS) technology lowered currents and power consumption inan integrated circuit even further. Currently nearly all large-scaleintegrated circuits have turned to complementary metal oxidesemiconductor (CMOS) technology.

Bipolar technology for semiconductor memory has been investigated overthe years. But this research has typically focused upon the individualmemory cell and has stopped at the conclusion that the memory cell couldbe part of an array. Further research and development of a bipolarmemory cell array has been hampered by the longstanding belief that theCMOS memory cells occupied less space and consumed less power than anybipolar memory cell and that any bipolar memory cell array wouldnecessarily be inferior to a CMOS array. Progress in recent years hasrelied upon relentless scaling in semiconductor processing technology,thus shrinking memory cell dimensions for greater circuit densities andhigher operational speeds.

One integrated circuit implemented in CMOS technology is the SRAM, acircuit which employs bistable latching circuitry in its memory cells,enabling an SRAM memory cell to stay in a logic “1” or a logic “0” stateas long as power is applied to the cell. Two cross-coupled inverters,each of which includes an active transistor and a complementary loadtransistor, and two select transistors, form the six-transistor CMOSSRAM cell which has been used for decades. Many integrated circuits inuse today require a combination of CMOS logic circuits and on-chip highperformance memories. Modern high performance processors andSystem-on-Chip (SoC) applications demands more on-chip memory to meetthe performance and throughput requirements. For example, one integratedcircuit can include 32 megabytes of CMOS SRAM as a cache memory on thechip. With a V_(DD) of 0.9 volts and a leakage current of 25 nanoamperesper memory cell, such a circuit consumes 7 amperes just from the memoryarray, without considering the power consumption of the logic portion ofthe chip. In addition, as the size of such circuits shrink withcontinued scaling in process technology used to manufacture thecircuits, the stability and power consumption of the memory cells havebecome one of the limiting factors in process cost and circuitcomplexity, making the designers of such chips reluctant to use thelatest process technology.

The CMOS SRAM in such devices typically has an access time on the orderof 200 picoseconds with a standard deviation of 30 picoseconds. Thus toobtain 6-σ sigma reliability an additional allowance of 6×30 picosecondsis necessary, resulting in a requirement to allow 380 picoseconds foraccess to the memory cells. The use of faster bipolar technology in suchdevices is typically limited to driver circuits in the SRAM memory, andeven when used there, a more complicated bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS)fabrication process is used, requiring additional thermal cycles andmaking the fabrication of the MOS devices more difficult and expensive.

As semiconductor processes shrink down to nanometer generations,however, both leakage and active currents through MOS transistors areparticularly susceptible to wide variations compared to the currentscomparably sized bipolar transistors. Projections indicate that withincreased packing densities and statistical deviations in electricalcurrent the operation of future CMOS SRAM devices is problematical. Itis desirable that an alternative approach be found.

The present invention provides for an SRAM memory cell that is basedupon a thyristor, one form of bipolar technology and often representedby two coupled bipolar transistors. The memory cell is highly adaptablewith many variations and the resulting SRAM integrated circuit can bedesigned for high-speed operation, or for lower speed operation if lesspower is required, or even for higher integration if a tightly packedSRAM integrated circuit is required. Furthermore, the SRAM memory cellcan be manufactured with conventional CMOS technologies to avoid thedevelopment costs of a new technology.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an integrated circuit having at least one logic circuit operatingwithin a logic circuit voltage range and connected to a plurality ofmemory cells arranged in an array on a substrate interconnected by aplurality of pairs of complementary bit lines and word lines, thepresent invention provides for each memory cell comprising a pair ofcross-coupled thyristors; a pair of bipolar transistors, each bipolartransistor respectively having a base region connected to a word line,an emitter region connected to one of the thyristors and a collectorregion connected to one of the pair of complementary bit lines; and anelectrically isolated tub holding the pair of cross-coupled thyristors,and the tub in the substrate and electrically biased so that voltages onthe word line within the logic circuit voltage range turn the pair ofbipolar transistors on and off to connect and disconnect thecross-coupled thyristors to the pair of complementary bit lines.

A process for forming a pair of cross-coupled bipolar transistors toform the thyristors described above includes steps of forming an annularregion of insulating material extending into the upper surface of afirst conductivity type semiconductor substrate to define a tub in thesubstrate, and introducing opposite conductivity type dopant to form aburied layer at the bottom of the tub. First conductivity type dopant isthen implanted into the tub to form a deep well region extending to theburied layer. Next opposite conductivity type dopant is implanted toform a shallow well. Then in the same process used elsewhere on theintegrated circuit to form gates for field effect transistors, two gatesare formed over the tub and used as a mask to implant dopants into thetub to form emitters and collectors for the pair of cross-coupledbipolar transistors. Finally, electrical connections are provided toeach of the pair of cross-coupled bipolar transistors, but not to thegate electrodes.

The resulting semiconductor structure provides a cross-coupled pair offirst type and opposite type bipolar transistors in which the annularinsulating region extends into the substrate to surround a first portionof the upper surface of the substrate with a buried layer of oppositeconductivity type to the first conductivity type disposed in thesubstrate beneath the first portion of the upper surface. A connectingregion of first conductivity type extends to the buried layer to providean electrical connection to it. Inside the tub, a shallow well region ofopposite conductivity type extends from the upper surface into thesubstrate over a second portion of the upper surface smaller than thefirst portion. A base contact of first conductivity type extends intothe tub outside the first portion of the upper surface. A dummy fieldeffect transistor gate is provided over the shallow well region toenable self-aligned implanting of emitter and collector regions adjacentthe gate. In the structure, the buried layer provides an emitter of thefirst type bipolar transistor and is coupled to a first voltage supply.The first conductivity type region adjacent one side of the gateprovides an emitter region for the opposite type bipolar transistor andis coupled to a second voltage supply. The part of the tub beneath theshallow well provides a base for the first type bipolar transistor and acollector for the opposite type bipolar transistor, and the shallow wellprovides a base for the opposite type bipolar transistor and a collectorfor the first type bipolar transistor.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent upon consideration of the following detailed descriptionand the accompanying drawings, in which like reference designationsrepresent like features throughout the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Herein the same reference numerals are often used in different drawingswhere the numbered element serves the identical or similar function andhelps the reader's understanding of the described subject matter.

FIG. 1A is a circuit diagram of a thyristor; and FIG. 1B shows a circuitdiagram of cross-coupled thyristors that form a memory cell.

FIG. 2 illustrates an array of SRAM memory cells.

FIG. 3A is a circuit diagram of a cross-coupled thyristor memory cellwith bipolar select transistors; and FIG. 3B is circuit diagram of amemory cell with MOS select transistors.

FIG. 4A is a circuit diagram of a cross-coupled memory cell withoutselect transistors; FIG. 4B illustrates a cross point array of FIG. 4Amemory cells with voltages on bit and word lines for a Write operation;and FIG. 4C illustrates the cross point array of FIG. 4A memory cellswith voltages on bit and word lines for a Read operation; FIG. 4D showsa low-power Write operation for a cross-coupled thyristor memory cellarray connected to complementary bit lines and word lines in oneconfiguration; FIG. 4E is a representative timing diagram at variouspoints of the memory cell in FIG. 4D; FIG. 4F shows a low-power Writeoperation for a cross-coupled thyristor memory cell array connected tocomplementary bit lines and word lines in a reverse configuration tothat of FIG. 4D; FIG. 4G is a representative timing diagram at variouspoints of the memory cell in FIG. 4F; and FIG. 4H is a representativediagram of circuit blocks supporting an SRAM memory array for oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5A is a block diagram of an array of SRAM cells with currentsources to maintain the memory cells in Standby mode by row; FIG. 5B isa circuit diagram of the current sources in FIG. 5A; FIG. 5C is acircuit diagram of Standby current sources for SRAM cells withcross-coupled thyristors in a cross point configuration in which thecathodes of the thyristors are connected to the complementary bit linesand the anodes are connected to the word line; and FIG. 5D is a circuitdiagram in which the connection of the cross-coupled thyristors to thebit and word lines are reversed.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of the current source for a block of SRAMcells to maintain the memory cells in Standby mode.

FIG. 7A is a circuit diagram of a cross-coupled thyristor SRAM memorycell with write-assist transistors and capacitors; FIG. 7B illustrates across point array of FIG. 7A memory cells with voltages on bit lines andword lines for a Read operation; FIG. 7C illustrates a cross point arrayof FIG. 7A memory cells with voltages on bit lines and word lines for aWrite operation; FIG. 7D is a circuit diagram of a cross-coupledthyristor SRAM memory cell with PMOS write-assist transistors; FIG. 7Eillustrates a cross point array of FIG. 7D memory cells with voltages onbit lines and word lines for a Read operation; FIG. 7F illustrates across point array of FIG. 7F memory cells with voltages on bit lines andword lines for a Write operation.

FIG. 8A is a circuit diagram of a single thyristor SRAM memory cell witha select transistor; and FIG. 8B is a circuit diagram of a singlethyristor SRAM memory cell with no select transistor.

FIG. 9A illustrates a single thyristor SRAM memory cell with a PMOS andNMOS Write assist transistors for a cross point array; FIG. 9B showsanother single thyristor memory cell similar to that of FIG. 9A withanode and cathode connections reversed; and FIG. 9C is a circuitschematic for a standby current source for a single thyristor SRAMmemory cell in a cross point array, FIG. 9D shows a circuit diagram of asingle thyristor SRAM memory cell having its anode connected to the bitline and its cathode connected to the word line with a PMOS Write assisttransistor; FIG. 9E shows a cross point array of FIG. 9D memory cellswith voltages on bit lines and word lines for a Read operation; FIGS. 9Fand 9G show a cross point array of FIG. 9D memory cells with voltages onbit lines and word lines for a two-stage Write operation; FIG. 9H showsa circuit diagram of a single thyristor SRAM memory cell having itsanode connected to the word line and its cathode connected to the bitline with a PMOS Write assist transistor; FIG. 9I shows a cross pointarray of FIG. 9H memory cells with voltages on bit lines and word linesfor a Read operation; FIGS. 9J and 9K show a cross point array of FIG.9H memory cells with voltages on bit lines and word lines for atwo-stage Write operation; FIG. 9L shows a low-power Write operation fora single thyristor memory cell array connected to bit lines and wordlines in one configuration; FIG. 9M is a representative timing diagramat various points of the memory cell in FIG. 9L; and Figure N shows alow-power Write operation for a single thyristor memory cell arrayconnected to bit lines and word lines in a reverse configuration to thatof FIG. 9M; and FIG. 9O is a representative timing diagram at variouspoints of the memory cell in FIG. 9N.

FIG. 10 illustrates a prior art complementary metal oxide semiconductor(CMOS) process.

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrates a process for forming shallow trenchisolation regions.

FIG. 12 illustrates a vertical bipolar transistor.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a process for fabricating the structureillustrated in FIG. 12.

FIGS. 14A-14D illustrate some of the steps of FIG. 13 in more detail.

FIG. 15 illustrates a lateral bipolar transistor.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a process for fabricating the structureillustrated in FIG. 15.

FIGS. 17A-17D illustrate a process for forming a merged NMOS-NPNstructure.

FIGS. 18A and 18B illustrates cross-sections of an SRAM cell.

FIG. 19 is a top view of the structures shown in FIGS. 18A and 18B.

FIGS. 20A-20D illustrate portions of the process for forming the SRAMcell of FIGS. 18 and 19.

FIGS. 21A and 21B illustrates cross-sections of an SRAM cell withbipolar select transistors.

FIG. 22 is a top view of the structure shown in FIGS. 21A and 21B.

FIGS. 23A-23E illustrate process steps for making the structure of FIGS.21 and 22.

FIG. 24 illustrates a cross-section of an SRAM cell structure formedusing a deep N-well.

FIG. 25 is a cross-section of a three-transistor SRAM cell.

FIG. 26 is a top view of the layout of the three-transistor SRAM cellshown in FIG. 25.

FIGS. 27A and 27B illustrate cross-sectional views of a four-transistorSRAM cell.

FIG. 28 is a top view of the structure shown in FIGS. 27A and 27B.

FIGS. 29A and 29B illustrate cross-sectional view of a four-transistorSRAM cell with write assist FETs.

FIG. 30 is a top view of the structure shown in FIGS. 29A and 29B.

FIG. 31 is a cross-sectional view of a two-transistor SRAM cell.

FIG. 32 illustrates a detail of a manufacturing process.

FIG. 33 is a graph illustrating typical dopant concentrations forvertical bipolar transistors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

I. Description of Circuits and their Operation

a. Description and Operation of a Thyristor

As observed earlier, as semiconductor processes shrink the statisticalvariations of MOS transistors increase. This is not the case withbipolar transistors. In fact, at a certain point, which is believed tobe processes having a critical dimension of 55 nm, often termed “55 nmprocesses,” many of the traditional advantages of MOS transistors overbipolar transistors disappear. That is, bipolar transistors have acomparable size to MOS transistors, and carry current with lessstatistical variation than their MOS transistor counterparts. Hence oneobservation of the present invention is that with 55 nm processes orsmaller, SRAM memory arrays are better suited with bipolar technology.

The SRAM memory cells of the present invention are based upon athyristor. A thyristor, also termed a silicon-controlled rectifier, arenormally used for power applications. A thyristor is a four-layer(PNPN), three junction device typically with two terminals, an anode anda cathode. In power applications there is typically a third terminal,called a control terminal for controlling the currents between the anodeand cathode. FIG. 1A is a circuit diagram of a thyristor as representedby two bipolar transistors, a PNP transistor 10 and a NPN transistor 11,which when merged form a PNPN thyristor. The emitter terminal 12 of thePNP transistor 10 forms the anode, and the emitter terminal 13 of theNPN transistor 11 forms the cathode. For purposes of completeness, acontrol terminal is shown in the drawing by a dotted line.

With the thyristor appropriately powered between two voltage supplies,e.g., at voltages V_(DD) and V_(SS), the thyristor can be in one of twostates, either “ON” and conducting current, or “OFF” and non-conducting.If the thyristor in FIG. 1A is conducting, the base region of the NPNtransistor 11/collector region of PNP transistor 10 (indicated byreference numeral 14) is high, i.e., the base-emitter junction of thetransistor 11 is forward-biased. The collector region of the NPNtransistor 11/base region of the PNP transistor 10 (indicated by thereference numeral 15) is low, i.e., the base-emitter junction of thetransistor 10 is also forward-biased. Both transistors 10 and 11 are insaturation mode and current flows through the thyristor. If thethyristor is “off,” the base region of the NPN transistor 11/collectorregion of PNP transistor 10 is low, i.e., the base-emitter junction ofthe transistor 11 is not forward-biased. The collector region of the NPNtransistor 11/base region of the PNP transistor 10 is high, i.e., thebase-emitter junction of the transistor 10 is also not forward-biased.Both transistors 10 and 11 are off mode and no current flows through thethyristor (except for leakage currents).

At the scale of integrated circuits the thyristor is compatible withcurrent conventional CMOS manufacturing technologies, as explainedbelow, and is surprisingly adaptable to different circuit configurationsto emphasize speed, power and integration as demanded by a user'sapplication of an SRAM memory, whether as an SRAM integrated circuit oras a part of an integrated circuit.

b. Description and Operation of Cross-Coupled Thyristors

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention a pair ofthyristors, each thyristor 16A, 16B formed by a PNP transistor 10A, 10Band an NPN transistor 11A, 11B, are cross-coupled as shown in FIG. 1B toform a memory cell. Where the memory cell includes select transistors,the P-type emitter terminals 12A, 12B of both transistors 10A, 10B areconnected to a voltage supply line at V_(DD), the memory high powersupply voltage, while the N-type emitter terminals 13A, 13B of thetransistors 11A, 11B are connected to a second power line at V_(SS), thememory low power supply voltage. The two thyristors 16A and 16B arecross-coupled by the connection of the merged N-type base of thetransistor 10A and collector of the transistor 11A to the merged P-typecollector of the transistor 10B and the base of the transistor 11B, andthe connection of of the merged N-type collector of the transistor 11Band base of the transistor 10B to the merged P-type collector of thetransistor 10A and base of the transistor 11A. A terminal 17A to themerged N-type base of the transistor 10A and collector of the transistor11A is connected to a select transistor for the memory cell (not shownin the drawing), and a second terminal 17B to the merged N-type base ofthe transistor 10B and collector of the transistor 11B is connected to asecond select transistor for the memory cell.

Operationally, the described cross-coupled thyristor memory cell corecan be in one of two logic states, one arbitrarily termed “1” and theother “0”. Using the circuit of FIG. 1B as an example, if the thyristor16A is ON, with the transistor 10A in saturation mode, the merged P-typecollector of the transistor 10A and base of the transistor 11A is high(to forward-bias the base-emitter junction). By the cross-coupling, thecollector of the transistor 11B and base of the transistor 10 is high,and the base-emitter junction of the transistor 10B in the thyristor 15Bcannot be forward-biased to turn the transistor 10B off. The thyristor15B is OFF. Conversely, if the thyristor 15B is ON, the thyristor 15A isOFF.

Arranging a plurality of SRAM memory cells into an array provides anintegrated circuit memory that can be combined with other circuits, forexample, logic circuits. The memory cells are interconnected by sets ofelectrically conducing lines running in perpendicular directions. FIG. 2illustrates one such general arrangement with an array 20 of SRAM cells27, each cell having a cross-coupled thyristor core. A set of horizontalword lines 24 and a set of vertical bit lines 23A, 23B interconnect theSRAM cells. Each cell 27 is connected to a word line 24, which in thedrawing runs horizontally, and a bit line 23A and its complementary bitline 23B that run vertically in the drawing. Conventionally, a bit lineis understood to carry data, a bit of information, to and from a memorycell. A word line is understood to activate a memory cell for the datato be carried into the memory cell, a Write operation, or for data tocarried from the memory cell, a Read operation. In a Write operation thebit lines 23A and 23B carry complementary voltages, representing eithera digital logic “1” or a “0” state, to be written into the selectedmemory cell 31 for storage. In a Read operation the bit lines 23A and23B start at equal voltages and then tip high or low depending upon thedigital signal stored in the memory cell 27. The bit line 23B carriesthe signal complementary to that carried by the bit line 23A so that ifthe bit line 23A is at a “high” voltage, the bit line 23B is at a “low”voltage, and vice versa. If the memory cells 27 are neither beingwritten nor being read, the memory cells are in Standby by which theyare kept in a steady state condition to maintain their respective storedlogic states.

c. SRAM Cell with Cross-Coupled Thyristors and Select Transistors

In one arrangement select transistors are used to connect thecross-coupled thyristors to the bit lines. This is illustrated in FIG.3A in which the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1B are used for thecross-coupled thyristors 16A and 16B. Bipolar transistors 32A and 32Bare used for select transistors to the cross-coupled thyristors 16A and16B to form an SRAM cell. The emitter region of the NPN selecttransistor 32A is connected to the merged collector region of the NPNtransistor 10A/base region of the PNP transistor 11A of the thyristor16A and also to the merged base region of the NPN transistor11B/collector region of the PNP transistor 10B of the thyristor 16B. Thecollector region of the NPN select transistor 32A is connected to thebit line 23A and the base region of the transistor 32A is connected tothe word line 24. In a similar fashion the emitter region of the NPNselect transistor 32B is connected to the merged collector region of theNPN transistor 11B/base region of the PNP transistor 10B of thethyristor 16B and also to the merged base region of the NPN transistor11A/collector region of the PNP transistor 10A of the thyristor 16A. Thecollector region of the NPN select transistor 32B is connected to thebit line 23B and the base region of the transistor 32B is connected tothe word line 24. To power the memory cell, the emitter regions of thePNP transistors 10A and 10B are connected to the upper power supply atvoltage V_(DD) and the emitter regions of the NPN transistors 11A and11B are connected to the lower power supply at voltage V_(SS).

For the SRAM cell to function properly, the memory cell requires avoltage higher than standard logic core voltage, i.e., the voltage usedby the logic circuits of the integrated circuit to which the SRAM cellbelongs. Standard core logic circuits, which are CMOS, typically operatein a range from 0 to 1 volt. Such SRAM memory supply voltagerequirements can be met by using a higher voltage for the SRAM powersupply, for example, the voltage used by the Input/Output circuits ofthe integrated circuit, V_(ddIO), or a voltage derived from V_(ddIO).But in one embodiment of the present invention, the requirement forextra circuitry can be avoided. In the construction of the memory cell,the SRAM memory cell can be placed in P-type tub in a deep N-type wellin the semiconductor substrate. See FIG. 31 and related description ofthe structure and process for the deep N-type well. The P-type tub isbiased negatively so that the bipolar select transistors 32A and 32B canuse the standard logic core voltages. Thus where the word lines aretypically driven between the upper supply voltage V_(DD) and the lowersupply voltage V_(SS) for the SRAM cells, the voltage swing for the wordlines connected to the select bipolar transistors 32A and 32B is limitedto 0.5V above V_(SS)(=0V or ground) and 1.5V with respect to V_(DD) inone embodiment of the invention. This arrangement enables the circuitswhich drive the word lines to be constructed directly from core logiccircuitry, i.e., no intervening voltage translation circuitry isrequired between the core logic and the bit lines.

Field effect transistors can also be used for the select transistors asshown in FIG. 3B. NMOS(FET) transistors 33A and 33B respectively connectthe bit lines 23A and 23B to the cross-coupled thyristors 16A and 16B,as illustrated in FIG. 3B with many of the same reference numerals as inFIG. 3A. A source/drain region of the NMOS select transistor 33A isconnected to the merged collector region of the NPN transistor 11A/baseregion of the PNP transistor 10A of the thyristor 16A and also to themerged base region of the NPN transistor 11B/collector region of the PNPtransistor 10B of the thyristor 16B. The other source/drain region ofthe NMOS select transistor 33A is connected to the bit line 23A and thegate of the transistor 33A is connected to the word line 24. In asimilar fashion one source/drain of the NMOS select transistor 33B isconnected to the merged collector region of the NPN transistor 11B/baseregion of the PNP transistor 10B of the thyristor 16B and also to themerged base region of the NPN transistor 11A/collector region of the PNPtransistor 10A of the thyristor 16A. The other source/drain region ofthe transistor 33B is connected to the complementary bit line 23B andgate of the transistor 33B is connected to the word line 24. To powerthe memory cell, the emitter regions of the PNP transistors 10A and 10Bare connected to the upper power supply at voltage V_(DD) and theemitter regions of the NPN transistors 11A and 11B are connected to thelower power supply at voltage V_(SS). Below (FIG. 26 et seq.) wedescribe how the circuit of FIG. 3B is implemented and manufactured.

Whether bipolar or field effect transistors are used as selecttransistors for the memory cell is dependent upon various design“trade-offs.” The field effect transistor is smaller than the bipolartransistor with a resulting desirable smaller cell size. But there aremajor disadvantages to using FETs as the select devices. (1) They limitthe access speed of the memory cell to being the same as a CMOScounter-part. In addition, FETs as select devices limit the amount ofcurrent that can be provided by a memory cell to raise or lower thevoltages on the bit line capacitance. The bipolar NPN select devices canprovide much more current and thus swing the voltage on the bit linemuch faster. (2) FETs manufactured with advanced processing are subjectto a high degree of random variation from cell to cell, as describedearlier. This degrades the operating margins of the memory cell whichoften must be countered by either exotic circuit design approaches inthe word line and bit line drive circuits or by increasing transistorsizes in the memory cell, thus increasing the cell size. The randomvariations in the NPN select devices are much smaller. (3) The standbycurrent of the unselected memory cells is controlled by the undesiredleakage of the “OFF” FET devices in the memory cell. In advancedprocessed devices this leakage gets very large. Using an MOS selecttransistor with the thyristor-based memory cell introduces this sourceof unwanted leakage current into the cell design, whereas an NPN selectdevice avoids this unwanted leakage current.

d. SRAM Cell with Cross-Coupled Thyristors and No Select Transistors

In another embodiment of the present invention, the SRAM memory cell hasno select transistors to access the memory cell. Rather, cross-coupledthyristors 46A and 46B are connected directly to the word line 44 andthe bit lines 43A and 43B, as shown in FIG. 4A to form a cross pointmemory cell array. In this arrangement, where nominally connected to anupper SRAM supply voltage V_(DD), the anodes, the emitter regions of thePNP transistors 40A and 40B, of the thyristors 35A and 35B are connectedrespectively to the bit lines 43A and 43B and where nominally connectedto the lower SRAM supply voltage V_(SS), the cathodes, the emitterregions of the NPN transistors 41A and 41B, of the thyristors 35A and35B are connected to the word line 44. Since the word and bit linesprovide power to the memory cell, the voltage operations on these linesin an array of such memory cells must be carefully choreographed. Theseoperations are described with reference to an array of SRAM memory cells47 with no select transistors. The cells are interconnected by bit lines43A, 43B and word line 44, as shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C.

It should also be noted that voltage and current values are given inthis text to better explain the invention and the values should beconsidered approximate. The voltages and currents can be varied orchanged to accommodate the electrical characteristics of the specificdevices being used on the integrated circuit. As an example, FIG. 4Hshows a thyristor-based SRAM integrated circuit at the block-level. Anarray of SRAM cells is addressed by signals from a Row Decoder block,conventionally for the word lines of the array, and signals from aColumn Decoder, Write & Sense Amplifier block, conventionally for thebit line(s) of the array. These address signals and control signals arecarried by an Address Block address, Control and I/O Bus, which passesthe signals to a Row Pre-decode block and a Column Pre-decoder & Controlblock. These blocks process the signals and send their signals to theRow Decoder block and Column Decoder, Write & Sense Amplifier block, asis well known to practitioners in the art. The arrows in FIG. 4H areshown as pointing toward the array because this example operation is anaddressing operation where particular memory cells in the array areselected, whether for a Read or Write operation.

To turn a thyristor on, the voltage imposed across the thyristor, i.e.,between the anode and the cathode, should be at least the sum of aforward-biased PN junction plus the emitter-collector voltage of a PNPtransistor in saturation. Thus the imposed voltage can vary quite a lot,starting from about 0.8V and larger. The larger the imposed voltage, thequicker the thyristor turns fully on. As shown in FIG. 4H, 1.4V isselected as the best compromise for optimum thyristor response at afairly low voltage. But the blocks surrounding the array operate withCMOS logic circuits and current CMOS logic voltage range isapproximately from 0 to 1.0 volts. One way to allow the CMOS logiccircuits in the Row Decoder block and the Column Decoder, Write & SenseAmplifier block to interface properly is to raise or shift the CMOSlogic voltage range in the Row Decoder block upwards 0.4 volts. That is,while the CMOS logic circuits still operate in a 1.0 volt range, therange extends between 0.4 to 1.4 volts. This is achieved by a voltageLevel Shift block between the Row Pre-decoder block and the Row Decoderblock. The Level Shift block can use the special voltages from the otherblocks, such as the I/O (Input/Output) block.

Another way for the thyristor—based memory cell array to interfaceproperly with the CMOS logic circuits in the Row Decoder block and theColumn Decoder, Write & Sense Amplifier block is to bias the array at adesired voltage. In the exemplary voltages of FIG. 4H, the array and theColumn Decoder, Write & Sense Amplifier block can be biased by anegative 0.4 volts in the manner described above with respect to thecross-coupled thyristor cell with select transistors and the materialrelated to FIG. 31. With the proper bias the Level Shift block shown inFIG. 4H is not required, but another level shift block for the columnsignals to shift the voltage swing in the described 0 to +1.0V rangedown to the −0.4 to +0.6V range. These alternatives consume differentamounts of circuit resources, such as layout area, which must beconsidered and balanced by the design architect of the SRAM integratedcircuit.

Returning to the operations of the cross-coupled thyristor memory cellarray itself, in Standby the bit lines 43A and 43B and word line 44 areheld at voltages so that the memory cells of the array maintain theirstored logic states indefinitely, i.e., each of the memory cells are“kept alive” and none switches states. In a Write operation thecomplementary bit lines and the word line of the selected memory cell(s)are driven high and low to place the selected cell(s) in the desiredlogic state(s). The bit and word lines of the unselected memory cellsare kept at the Standby voltages to remain unchanged. Difficulties occurfor the memory cells which are “half-selected,”i.e., memory cells whichhave either their bit lines or their word lines (but not both) connectedto the selected memory cells. The voltages on the selected memory cellsfor the Write operation must be sufficiently large so as to drive theselected cells into the desired logic states, yet not so large so tochange the logic states of the half-selected cells.

In a Read operation the complementary bit lines of the selected memorycell(s) are driven high and the word line of the selected memory cell(s)are driven low for the selected memory cell(s) to allow the state of thecell to tip the voltages of the complementary bit lines for reading ofthe memory cell state by a differential amplifier. The bit and wordlines of the unselected memory cells, on the other hand, are kept at theStandby voltages to remain unchanged. For the half-selected memorycells, the voltages on the selected memory cells for the read operationmust be sufficiently large so that the state of a selected memory cellcan affect the voltages on the bit lines. But the voltages should not beso high so as to affect the logic states of the other memory cells, thehalf-selected cells, which have either their bit lines or their wordlines (but not both) connected to the selected memory cells.

A Write operation is illustrated by FIG. 4B with an array of memorycells 47, such as connected to the word and bit lines shown in FIG. 4A.In this example, the first and third memory cells in the first row areto be written and the bit lines 43A and 43B for the selected memorycells are respectively driven to 1.6V (or 0.8V) and 0.8V (or 1.6V),depending upon the states to be written. The word line 44 for theselected memory cells is driven low from 0.4V to 0V so that a bias of1.6V is applied across one thyristor in each selected memory cell whilethe second thyristor sees a bias of 0.8V. These voltages drive thememory cell into the desired state accordingly. The unselected memorycells see the Standby voltages of 0.8V on their bit lines 43A, 43B and0.4V on their word line 44. The resulting voltage of 0.4V maintains theunselected memory cells in their present state. The half-selected memorycells, on the other hand, see a voltage of 0.8V for cells connected tothe same word line as the selected cells, or a voltage of 1.2V(1.6-0.4V) or 0.4V (0.8-0.4V) for the cells connected to the same bitlines as the selected cells. These voltages are insufficient to “flip”or change the state of a half-selected memory cell.

In a Read operation the bit lines 43A and 43B for the selected memorycell are both driven to 1.3V and the word line 44 for the selectedmemory cell is driven to 0V. This is illustrated in the example of FIG.4C. The state of the selected memory cell “tips” the voltages on the bitlines 43A and 43B one way or the other so that the memory cell can beread. The bit lines 43A and 43B for the unselected memory cells are leftat 0.8V and the word line 44 for the unselected memory cells 0.4V tomaintain these memory cells in their present state. The half-selectedmemory cells that are connected to the same word line as the selectedmemory cells see a voltage of 0.8V, while the half-selected memory cellswhich are connected to the same bit lines as the selected cells, see avoltage of 0.9V. Neither of these voltages is sufficient to “flip” orchange the state of a memory cell.

The voltages above should be understood as compromises between operatingspeeds and power dissipation. The 0.8V voltage, for example, is slightlyabove the 0.7V silicon junction turn-on voltage and may result in someleakage current through the half-selected memory cells during read orwrite operations. However, speed is optimized. A higher bias results inhigher speeds, but higher leakage (power dissipation) on the selectedlines. The particular application for the SRAM helps determine thetrade-off between speed and power dissipation. Furthermore, the relativebiasing of the word lines and bit lines for the selected memory cellsand for the unselected memory cells may be adjusted to minimize leakageor to optimize compatibility with other circuits. For example, during aRead operation the word line for the selected memory cells could be setat 0V and the bit lines at 1.3V, or the word line at 0.3V and the bitlines at 1.6V, while holding the word lines for the unselected memorycells at 0.4V and bit lines at 0.8V. Both of these operating parameterswork but they result in different leakage currents through the word andbit lines for the selected memory cell. If multiple cells are readsimultaneously, extra current is carried on the word and bit lines forthe selected memory cells. The biases for the word and bit lines can beadjusted to minimize the voltage drop or the maximum current through thememory array lines. In conjunction with FIG. 34 et seq. below wedescribe the structure and manufacture of a cell such as depicted inFIG. 4A.

It should also understood that the description and voltage values abovewere given for one arrangement of the connections between the word andbit lines and the anodes and cathodes of a cross-coupled thyristormemory cell. The connections illustrated in FIG. 4A can be reversed,i.e., the anodes of the thyristors connected to the word line and thecathodes connected to the complementary bit line pair with theoperations and voltages correspondingly changed to reflect the reversedconnections.

e. Reduced Power Write Operations for Cross-Coupled Thyristor SRAM Cells

In the Write operation description above the bit line connected to the“OFF” thyristor in the memory cell which is to be written to is heldhigh to guarantee that the thyristor receives the maximum Write voltageduring the duration of the Write operation pulse to turn the thyristor“ON”. Once the memory cell, i.e., the “OFF” thyristor turns “ON” and itscross-coupled counterpart turns “OFF”, the newly “ON” thyristor conductsthe maximum “ON” current while the thyristor's bit line is held high.This increases the power consumption during the Write operation. Moreimportantly, the word line must carry away the current from all thecells on the row so that this current can be very large. This can causea significant voltage drop along the word line due to the electricalresistance of the line and may result in instability in the memoryarray.

This situation can be ameliorated by pre-charging the bit line to the“OFF” thyristor high prior to the Write pulse in a fashion similar to aRead operation described above as illustrated in FIG. 4D. FIG. 4E is arepresentation of the voltages at various locations of the FIG. 4Dmemory cell. After the pre-charge, the pre-charge is turned off to allowthe bit line to “float” until the memory cell flips state. At that pointthe current through the newly “ON” thyristor pulls the bit line low(similar to a Read operation). As the bit line voltage falls, thevoltage drop across the thyristor decreases and the current falls towardthe minimum holding current. This has three benefits. First, the peakcurrent is reduced because the bit line voltage starts to drop beforethe internal voltages in the memory cell turn the thyristor fully “ON”.Secondly, the now narrow current pulse (shown by the shape of I_(ThyL)in Figure E) reduces the power dissipated in the Write operation.Thirdly, since from a statistical standpoint the various cells in therow being written flip at different times, the peak current in the wordline is reduced and spread over a larger time interval, furtherminimizing the undesirable voltage drop along the word line.

FIG. 4F illustrates the low power Write operation for a cross-coupledthyristor cell in which the connections to the word and bit lines arereversed compared to that of FIG. 4D. That is, the FIG. 4F memory cellhas its anodes connected to the word line and its cathodes to respectivebit lines. FIG. 4G is a representation of the voltages at variouslocations of the FIG. 4F memory cell. In this example, the bit line tothe “OFF” thyristor is pre-charged low prior to the Write pulse (similarto a Read operation). Then the pre-charge path is turned off to allowthe bit line to “float” until the memory cell flips state. At that pointcurrent through the newly “ON” thyristor pulls the bit line high(similar to a Read operation). As the bit line rises, the voltage dropacross the thyristor decreases and the current drops toward the minimumholding current. The same benefits as described in the previousparagraph are achieved. First, the peak current is reduced because thebit line voltage starts to rise before the internal voltages in thememory cell turn the thyristor fully “ON”. Secondly, the now narrowcurrent pulse (shown by the shape of I_(ThyL) in Figure G) reduces thepower dissipated in the Write operation. Thirdly, since from astatistical standpoint the various cells in the row being written flipat different times, the peak current in the word line is reduced andspread over a larger time interval, further minimizing the undesirablevoltage drop along the word line.

f. Reduced Power Standby Operation for Cross-Coupled Thyristor SRAMCells

Rather than using fixed voltages (between 0.3 to 0.8V) to maintain thememory cells (see FIG. 4A) of the array in their various states betweenRead and/or Write operations, an alternative approach regulates thevoltage with a current source to maintain the memory cell states inStandby mode. The current source provides enough current for all of theconnected memory cells and sufficient current so that the weakest memorycell does not “flip.” The memory cell array is divided into partialarrays. Since typically multiple cells are read along a single wordline, the array is divided along the word line direction as illustratedin FIG. 5A. In the memory array 50 pairs of bit lines 53A and 53Bintersect word lines 54 at SRAM memory cells as previously described.Parallel to the word lines 54 are upper power supply lines 56 which areconnected to the SRAM memory cells; pairs of word lines 54 and powersupply lines 56 are connected to a current source circuit 55. Currentcontrol is placed along the word line so that selection is made alongthe word line or world lines being read.

FIG. 5B shows the current source circuit 55 in greater detail. Whenaddress signals to a decoder represented by a NAND gate turn on the wordline 54, the same output signal from the NAND gate turns on the PMOStransistor that short-circuits the current source 58. The power supplyline 56 is pulled up to V_(DDA) for the connected memory cells 57 to beread. Otherwise, when the word line 54 is off and the row of memorycells is not selected, the PMOS transistor is off and the current source57 at voltage V_(DDA) supplies the necessary current to maintain thememory cells 57 in their respective logic states. Given currenttechnologies, the required current from the current source 57 for asingle row of memory cells in standby mode is in the range of 1-10 pAper bit.

FIG. 5C shows a standby current source arrangement for memory cells 57with cross-coupled thyristors in a cross point array. In this embodimentthe cathodes of the thyristors are connected to complementary bit linepairs 53A, 53B and the anodes of the thyristors are connected to theword line 54. The current source 51 is connected to the word line 54 bya PMOS transistor 59. In Standby mode, the PMOS transistor 59 is on andthe current source 51 supplies a maintenance current to the memory cells57 through the word line 54 and out through the bit lines 53A, 53B. Whenthe address signals to a decoder represented by the NAND gate turn onthe PMOS transistor 56 and turn off the PMOS transistor 59, the currentsource 51 is disconnected from the word line 54 and the word line 54 israised to a word line selection voltage, represented by V_(WL) _(_)_(SEL), for a Read or Write operation.

FIG. 5D shows another standby current source arrangement for a memorycells 57 with cross-coupled thyristors in a cross point array, similarto that of FIG. 5C. In this embodiment, however, the anodes of thethyristors are connected to the complementary bit line pair 53A, 53B,and the cathodes of the thyristors are connected to the word line 54.The current source, now a current sink 52, is connected to the word line54. In Standby mode, the PMOS transistor 59 is on and the current sink57 pulls a maintenance current through the memory cells 57 from the bitlines 53A, 53B through the cells 57 and out to the word line 54. Whenthe address signals to a decoder represented by the NAND gate turn onthe PMOS transistor 56 and turn off the PMOS transistor 59, the currentsink 52 is disconnected from the word line 54 and the word line 54 israised to the word line selection voltage for a Read or Write operation.

It should be noted that the arrangements shown in FIGS. 5C and 5Dprovide for a current source/sink for more than one word line in thecross point array. Rather, the current source/sink works for a blockwith many word lines. In a similar fashion, FIG. 6 shows a currentsource circuit for blocks of memory cells which have fixed voltagesupplies. See FIG. 5B. In FIG. 6, the current source 68 supplies thecurrent for the plurality of rows of memory cells in the block. When aparticular row, i.e., word line 64, is selected, a second MOS transistor69 turns off to decouple the current source 68 from the power supplyline 66, while a first MOS transistor 66 turns on to pull the powersupply line 66 to voltage V_(DDA). When the particular word line is notselected, the first MOS transistor 66 is off and the second MOStransistor 69 connects the power supply line 66 to the current supply 68at voltage V_(DDA). The current supply 68 supplies the current to ablock of several rows of unselected memory cells; the total current isabout 1 μA at current technology levels. Such a current supply isrelative easy to design compared to a current supply in the range of 1nA.

g. Cross-Coupled Thyristor SRAM Cell with Write Assist Circuitry

To speed the operations of the thyristor-based memory cell, Write assistcircuitry can be added to the memory cell. In the example of FIG. 7A,the anodes of the cross-coupled thyristors of the memory cell 77 arerespectively connected to a complementary bit line pair, 73A and 73B,and the cathodes of the thyristors are connected a word line 74. TwoPMOS transistors 76A and 76B are respectively connected to the emitterand collector regions of the PNP transistors 70A and 70B. That is, asource/drain region of the PMOS transistor 76A (76B) is connected to, orpart of, the emitter region of the PNP transistor 70A (70B), i.e., theanodes of the cross-coupled thyristors, and the second source/drainregion of the PMOS transistor 76A (76B) is connected to, or part of, thecollector region of the PNP transistor 70A (70B). The gates of the PMOStransistors 76A and 76B are connected to a Write assist line 75.Additionally, the two capacitors 78A and 78B each have a terminalconnected to the Write assist line 75; the other terminal of eachcapacitor 878A and 78B are respectively connected to the base regions ofthe PNP transistor 70A and 70B/collector regions of the NPN transistor71A and 71B.

When the signal on the Write assist line 75 is low, the PMOS transistor76A short-circuits the P-type emitter and collector regions of thetransistor 70A. Likewise the PMOS transistor 76B short-circuits theP-type emitter and collector regions of the transistor 70B. The N-typecarriers are driven from the base regions of the transistors 70A and 70Binto the capacitors 78A and 78B respectively. The Write assisttransistors 76A and 76B provide a conduction path from the anode of theindividual thyristor to its P-well region (the collector region of thePNP transistor 70A, 70B and the base region of the NPN transistor 71A,71B). If the thyristor is “OFF”, then its shallow N-well, the baseregion of the PNP transistor 70A, 70B/collector region of NPN transistor71A, 71B, is at a higher voltage—somewhere near but not necessarilyequal to the voltage on the anode. It is high enough that the magnitudeof V_(be), the base-emitter voltage, is not sufficient to cause the PNPtransistor 70A, 70B to conduct more than background leakage current.Similarly the P-well region, the collector region of the PNP transistor70A, 70B and the base region of the NPN transistor 71A, 71B, is at alower voltage—somewhere near but not necessarily equal to the voltage onthe cathode. It is low enough that the magnitude of V_(be) is notsufficient to cause the NPN transistor 71A, 71B to conduct more thanbackground leakage current. In order to cause a thyristor to turn “ON,”either the voltage of the shallow N-well must be lowered to turn on thePNP transistor 70A, 70B, or the voltage of the P-well must be raised toturn on the NPN transistor 71A, 71B. One approach is to increase thevoltage between the anode and the cathode to larger values. Thisincreases the background leakage currents through the PNP and NPNtransistors which eventually causes one of the thyristor componenttransistors to turn “ON” and then the feedback loop in the thyristorsnaps the device into the fully “ON” state. However, this approachrequires either a large anode-cathode voltage (higher than may beprovided with the CMOS circuits) or long write times at the appliedvoltage (longer than desired for SRAM operation).

Thus the PMOS transistors 76A, 76B are added to assist the Writeoperation to the “ON” state. When a normal operating voltage from theanode to the cathode (approx. 1.2-1.4V) is applied and the voltage onthe gate of the MOS transistor low enough to turn on the PMOStransistor, a conduction path is provided between the anode voltage andthe P-well, the collector region of the PNP transistor 70A, 70B/baseregion of the NPN transistor 71A, 71B. This conduction path pulls thevoltage on the P-well upward towards the anode and when it reaches thenormal PN-diode turn-on voltage, the NPN base-emitter junction (P-wellto cathode) starts to conduct, turning on the NPN transistor 71A, 71Band then the feedback of the thyristor kicks it into the fully “ON”state.

If the thyristor is in the “ON” state, voltage of the shallow N-well,the base region of the PNP transistor 70A, 70B/collector region of NPNtransistor 71A, 71B, is relatively low (sufficient to place the PNPtransistor 70A, 70B in the “ON” state) and the P-well, the collectorregion of the PNP transistor 70A, 70B/the base region of the NPNtransistor 71A, 71B, is relatively high (sufficient to place the NPNtransistor 71A, 71B in the “ON” state.)

To switch the thyristor into the “OFF” state, the direct current flowthrough the thyristor must first be stopped by reducing the voltagebetween the anode and the cathode to sufficiently low voltage toeliminate the “turn-on” forward biasing of the base-emitter junctions ofboth the PNP (sNW to anode) transistors 70A, 70B and the NPN (PW tocathode) 71A, 71B transistors. However, this is not sufficient. Eventhough current flow through the thyristor is stopped by the reducedvoltage between the anode and the cathode, there is a large amount ofcharge (minority carriers) stored in the N base region of the PNPtransistor 70A, 70B and P base region of the PNP transistor 70A, 70Bwhich internally holds them very near but slightly less than the V_(be)turn-on point of the PNP and NPN devices. If the anode-cathode voltageare increased again, these junctions quickly forward bias again and thethyristor turns back “ON”. Thus without some “assistance,” a thyristormust be held in this “OFF” state for a sufficiently long time for allthe stored charge to dissipate through background leakage andrecombination.

The Write assist PMOS transistor 76A, 76B help in removing charge fromthe thyristor P-well, the collector region of the PNP transistor 70A,70B/the base region of the NPN transistor 71A, 71B. In the“Write-to-OFF” operation, the voltage on the cathode is driven up tonear or perhaps even above the voltage on the anode. With the chargestored in the P-well, this pushes via capacitive coupling the voltage inthe P-well to above the voltage on the anode. Thus when the gate of theWrite assist PMOS transistor 76A, 76B is pulled low and the transistoris turned on, the charge stored in the P-well gets drained out throughthe PMOS transistor 76A, 76B to the anode which brings the voltage dropbetween the P-well and the anode to well below the NPN base-emitterturn-on voltage, V_(be). There is still the charge stored in the shallowN-well, the base region of the PNP transistor 70A, 70B/collector regionof NPN transistor 37A, 37B, to contend with. But the P-well beingdischarged through the PMOS transistor 76A, 76B, the overallredistribution of voltage in the PNPN thyristor stack helps shorten thetime needed for the shallow N-well to reach a voltage that keeps thethyristor “OFF”.

The memory cell 77 of FIG. 7A has two cross-coupled thyristors withshallow N-well of one thyristor connected to the P-well of the other. Inthis configuration one of the thyristors is always “ON” and the otherthyristor is always “OFF”. The “lower” shallow N-well in the “ON”thyristor re-enforces the “lower” voltage of the P-well in the “OFF”thyristor and vise-versa. The Write operation to the memory cellactually involves doing two simultaneous thyristor writes—turning “ON”the “OFF” thyristor by putting the full access voltage across it, and atthe same time turning “OFF” the “ON” thyristor by putting near 0V acrossit. In this example of a cross-coupled thyristor memory cell, the wordline 74 is connected to the two cathodes and the BL/BL_N lines 73A, 73Bto the respective anodes. The bit line 73A, 73B connected to “ON”thyristor anode is low and the bit line 73B, 73A connected to the “OFF”thyristor anode is high. This puts that maximum available turn-onvoltage across the “OFF” thyristor and a low enough voltage drop(˜0.2-0.3V) across the “ON” thyristor to turn off its current flow. Atthe same time the voltage on the gates of the 2 PMOS Write assisttransistor 76A and 76B is pulled low so that they can operate asdescribed above. But with the addition of the cross-coupling of the twothyristors there are additional paths for the charge stored in the “OFF”thyristor to be removed—namely through the cross connections to thethyristor that is being turned on. The “OFF” thyristor is switched onalmost the exact manner described above. The turn-on of the PMOS Writeassist transistor 76A, 76B provides a path for the “low” P-well to bepulled up toward the anode voltage, turning on the NPN transistor 71A,71B. This actually takes a little longer because this PMOS transistornow has to pull-up not only P-well in the “OFF” thyristor, but also the“low” shallow N-well in the “ON” thyristor through the cross connectingwire. But in doing this the charge stored in this shallow N-well isremoved. Thus a small push-out in the time to turn on the “OFF” NPNtransistor 71A, 71B is exchanged for a large improvement in the time toeliminate the stored charge in the base of the PNP transistor 70B, 70Aof the “ON” thyristor. As the “OFF” NPN transistor 71A, 71B turns on,its collector current pulls down the base (shallow N-well) of the “OFF”PNP transistor 70A, 70B turning it on and then its collector currentsupplies the base of the NPN transistor 71A, 71B, re-enforcing the “ON”state (i.e. —the thyristor feedback loop). At the same time, thecollector current of the newly turned on NPN transistor 71A, 71B alsopulls down the “high” P-well of the “ON” thyristor, removing its storedcharge and re-enforcing the effort to fully turn that thyristor “OFF”.So the cross-coupling of two thyristors solves the write-speed problemin the isolated single thyristor described above.

Capacitors, such as shown in FIG. 7A, can also be used in Write assistoperations. As illustrated by the capacitors 78A and 78B, capacitance isadded between the Write assist line 75 and the shallow N-well region,the base of the PNP transistor 70A, 70B/collector of the NPN transistor71A, 71B, of a thyristor. It is theoretically possible to utilize thesecapacitors by capacitively coupling a voltage shift into the shallowN-well from either the rising or falling transitions of the Write assistline 75. A falling transition of the Write assist line 75 pushes theshallow N-well downward to a lower voltage by some percentage of thechange in voltage on the Write assist line 75. This percentage isdetermined by the ratio of the Write assist gate capacitance to thetotal capacitance seen by the shallow N-well. If the thyristor is in the“OFF” state, this downward coupling of the voltage on the shallow N-wellincreases the magnitude of the V_(be) of the PNP transistor 70A, 70Bwhich can possibly help turn transistor on, resulting in the thyristorswitching from the “OFF” to the “ON” state.

Conversely, if the thyristor is in the “ON” state, a rising transitionon the Write assist line 75 couple a voltage upward into the shallowN-well by some percentage (as described above). In a Write operationwhere the voltage between the anode and the cathode of the “ON”thyristor has been reduced to near 0V or even to a negative voltage, andthe current flow through the “ON” thyristor has ceased, the thyristor isnot truly “OFF” because of the charge still stored in the shallow N-wellregion (base of the PNP transistor 70A, 70B) and the P-well region (baseof the NPN transistor 71A, 71B). The effect of the upward coupling ofthe shallow N-well voltage after the DC current flow has been cut offhelps remove some of the charge stored in the shallow N-well, thushelping truly turn “OFF” the thyristor.

Read and Write operations for the cross point array of FIG. 7A memorycells 77 are illustrated in FIGS. 7B and 7C. The conditions for Standbyare also implicitly illustrated. In these exemplary operations, adigital “0” and “1” is read from and written into respectively the firstand third memory cells 77 in the first row of the array. Similar to thememory cell of FIG. 7A, FIG. 7D shows a cross-coupled thyristor memorycell for a cross point array. In this example, the anodes of thecross-coupled thyristors are connected to the word line 74 and thecathodes of the thyristors are respectively connected to thecomplementary bit lines 73A, 73B. Read and Write operations for thecross point array of FIG. 7D memory cells 77 are illustrated in FIGS. 7Eand 7F with a digital “0” and “1” is read from and written intorespectively the first and third memory cells 77 in the first row of thearray. Again, it should be noted the voltage values shown represent arange of values and are used to best illustrate the describedoperations. Optimum values are dependent upon the particularcharacteristics of the devices of an integrated circuit.

FIG. 36 et seq. illustrate the structure and method of manufacture of amemory cell with Write assist MOS(FET)s.

h. SRAM Cell with Single Thyristor

A memory cell comprising a single thyristor can also be used. FIGS. 8Aand 8B show some basic configurations of a single thyristor SRAM memorycell. FIG. 8A shows one embodiment of the present invention in which amemory cell having a thyristor represented by a PNP transistor 80 andNPN transistor 81 connected between an upper voltage supply line atV_(DD) and lower voltage supply line at V_(SS). A select NMOS(FET)transistor 82 connects the single bit line 83 to the base region of thePNP transistor 80/collector region of the NPN transistor 81. The gate ofthe NMOS transistor 82 is connected to the word line 84. FIG. 8B showsanother embodiment of the present invention. In this case the selecttransistor is eliminated so that the emitter region of the PNPtransistor 80 is connected directly to the word line 84 and the emitterregion of the NPN transistor 81 is connected to the bit line 83.

i. Single Thyristor SRAM Cell with Write Assist Transistors

The single thyristor memory cell can be arranged in many configurations.FIG. 9A shows a single thyristor memory cell in which the thyristoranode is connected to the bit line and the cathode connected to the wordline. To speed operations, two Write assist MOS transistors areconnected to the thyristor. A PMOS Write assist transistor 96 has asource/drain connected to the anode of thyristor and a secondsource/drain connected to the collector region of the PNP transistor90/base region of the NPN transistor 91. Its MOS transistor gate isconnected to a Write assist line 95B. An NMOS Write assist transistor 98has a source/drain connected to the cathode and the collector region ofthe NPN transistor 91/base region of the PNP transistor 90. Its gate isconnected to another Write assist line 95A. FIG. 9B shows another singlethyristor memory cell similar to that of FIG. 9A. In this example theanode of the thyristor is connected to the word line and the cathodeconnected to the bit line. Two MOS transistors, a PMOS transistor andNMOS transistor, are connected to the thyristor to act as Write assisttransistors as described for the FIG. 9A memory cell.

The memory cell of FIG. 9D shows a single thyristor with its anodeconnected to the bit line and the cathode connected to the word line. Asingle PMOS transistor 96 having a source/drain region connected to theanode and the second source/drain connected to the collector region ofthe PNP transistor 90/base region of the NPN transistor 91 acts as aWrite assist transistor. The gate of the PMOS transistor 96 is connectedto a single Write assist line 95. FIG. 9H shows another single thyristormemory cell which has its anode and cathode connections reversedcompared to that of FIG. 9D.

j. Reduced Power Standby Operation for Single Thyristor SRAM Cells

The operation of the single thyristor cell in a cross-point array isvery similar to that of the earlier described cross-coupled thyristormemory cell. In Standby the single bit line 93, BL, is maintained at its“pre-charge” level (0V if the BL connects to the cathode, the array“high” voltage (˜1.4V) if the BL connects to the anode of thethyristor.) The word line 94, WL, is held an intermediate voltage whichis sufficient to maintain the “ON” state of “ON” thyristors in thememory array but low enough to keep the current flow through the “ON”thyristors at a minimum level in the range of pico-amperes or 10's ofpico-amperes per bit. This is tricky because the current drawn by andeselected row in deselect now depends on the number of “ON” cellscontained in the row. With the cross-coupled thyristor cell, each cellalways has one “ON” thyristor and one “OFF” thyristor, so the rowStandby current is always the same which allows the necessary Standbycurrent to be supplied with a pre-set constant current source asdescribed earlier.

With a single thyristor cell, a memory cell with digital bit D=1 has asingle “OFF” thyristor and a memory cell with digital bit D=0 has asingle “ON” thyristor, so the total current drawn in Standby now dependson the data pattern stored in the row, so the constant current sourcedescribed elsewhere doesn't work correctly. If a constant current sourceis used to maintain the row in Standby, the supplied constant currentmust be sufficiently large to supply the current required if ALL thecells in the row are “ON”, otherwise the current draw of all the cellswould pull the voltage on the word line too far towards the bit linevoltage and at least some cells on the row would be starved of currentand eventually flip to the “OFF” state. But if the current sourcefeeding the word line in Standby sends the current required when all thecells are “ON,” a problem occurs when many of the cells are actuallyoff. Then the current supplied is larger than the current being pulledout by the “ON” cells and this causes the WL voltage to move away fromthe BL voltage, increasing the voltage drop across the cells in the row.This would not cause a Standby current draw problem because the totalcurrent would still be equal to the worst-case current when all cellsare “ON”. The problem occurs when only a very few or perhaps none of thecells on the row are in the “ON” state. In this case the word linevoltage is pulled all the way to the supply voltage that connects to theother side of the current source (presumably either the array “high”voltage of ˜1.4 v if the bit lines are connected to the memory cellcathodes, or to 0V if the bit lines are connect to the memory cellanodes). This can be tolerated for some period of time (perhaps 100's ofmicro-seconds, but very prolonged exposure to this full voltage dropacross the cells eventually causes some of the “OFF” cells to flip tothe “ON” state, disturbing the data in the memory array.

Hence with the single thyristor cell, if a current source is to controlthe Standby condition (i.e. —the word line WL voltage), then some sortof “clamp” must be provided on the wire driven by the current sourcethat prevents the Standby voltage on the word lines from increasing (ifthe word line WL is connected to the cell's thyristor anode) ordecreasing (if the word line WL is connected to the cell's thyristorcathode) beyond the minimum disturb voltage when there are few or no“ON” cells in the group of cells being held in Standby. This “clamp”consists of some cascode-type device (FET or BJT) that turns on when theStandby voltage crosses a designated threshold and then shunts away theexcess current being provided by the Standby constant current source.For example, FIG. 9C shows a Standby current source arrangement formemory cells with single thyristors in a cross point array. In thisembodiment the cathode of the cell thyristor is connected to the bitline 93 and the anode of the thyristor is connected to the word line 94.The current source 100 is connected to the word line 94 through a PMOStransistor 99. In another embodiment (not shown) the anode and cathodeconnections to the bit and word lines are reversed. Another more bruteforce approach uses an analog voltage regulator, such as an op-ampcomparing the stand-by voltage to a reference voltage, and activating ashunt transistor (FET or BJT) when the reference voltage is exceeded.

k. Read and Write Operations in a Single Thyristor Cell

In Read operations the single thyristor cell operates identically to thecross-coupled thyristor cell. Before the word line WL is selected, thebit line BL is pre-charged (low if the word line is connected to thememory cell thyristor anode (e.g., see FIGS. 9B and 9H), high if theword line is connected to the thyristor cathode (e.g., see FIGS. 9A and9D)) and then left floating. Then the word line WL is selected. If theselected cell is “OFF”, the bit line BL is left floating at thepre-charge voltage. If the selected cell is “ON,” then the bit line BLis pulled toward the WL voltage thru the “ON” thyristor of the selectedcell. See FIGS. 9E and 9I for some representative voltages for Readoperations for memory arrays for FIGS. 9D and 9H cells respectively.

In Write operations, the Write-to-ON operation is identical to the bitline BL connected to the “OFF” thyristor in the cross-coupled thyristormemory cell. The bit line BL is driven to the opposite voltage from theword line WL (low if the word line is connected to the thyristor anode(e.g., see FIGS. 9B and 9H), high if the word line is connected to thethyristor cathode (e.g., see FIGS. 9A and 9D)) and a PMOS Write assisttransistor 96 (see FIG. 9D) is turned on by dropping the voltage on theWrite-assist line. The cell is flipped to the ON state just as describedabove.

For the Write-to-OFF operation in a single thyristor cell, the usefulcross-coupling effect to help remove charge of a cross-coupled thyristorcell is not present. Instead, the Write-to-ON and the Write-to-OFFoperations are segregated into two separate voltage bias schemes. In theWrite-to-OFF operation, the selected bit line BL is driven toward thenormal word line WL select voltage (˜1.0 v if the word line is connectedto the cell anodes, ˜0.2V if the word line is connected to the cellcathodes), just as for the cross-coupled thyristor cell arrays. Thedifference is that the selected word line WL is also driven toward anintermediate voltage near or at the Standby level. This applies anegative anode-cathode voltage across the cell to maximize the leakagecurrents trying to dissipate the charge stored in the shallow N-well,the base region of the PNP transistor 90/collector region of the NPNtransistor 91, of the thyristor. The PMOS Write assist transistor 96still works to remove charge from the P-well, the collector region ofthe PNP transistor 90/base region of the NPN transistor 91, of thethyristor as described above.

Therefore, a Write operation for a data pattern into a row is performedin two stages, one in which the word line WL is driven to the selectvoltage and the selected bit lines BLs are driven pre-charge levels toflip the “OFF” cells to “ON's”. Then the word line WL is switched to thefully OFF voltage (not just the Standby level) and the “other” selectedbit lines BLs are driven to the opposite voltage from the pre-chargelevel to flip “ON” cells to “OFF's”. When writing the “ON's” on theselected bit lines, the non-selected bit lines (including the BLs to besubsequently written to “OFF”) need to be driven to near the WL level toprevent non-selected “OFF” cells on the row from being flipped to “ON”.Then when writing the “OFF's” on the “other” selected bit lines, thenon-selected bit lines BLs (including the bit lines just written to“ON”) need to be driven to the pre-charge level to prevent thenon-selected “ON” cells on the row from being flipped to the “OFF”state. In this second case, the word line WL voltage is set at someintermediate level near the Stand-by voltage so that there is enoughcurrent in the “ON” cell(s) to keep the cells alive when the Writeassist gate is turned on. This is the cross-point memory “half-select”condition.

FIGS. 9F and 9G show some representative voltages for the describedtwo-stage Write operations for FIG. 9D memory cell arrays. FIGS. 9J and9K show some representative voltages for the described two-stage Writeoperations for FIG. 9H memory cell arrays.

l. Reduced Power Write Operations for Single Thyristor SRAM Cell

The Write operation stage in which the “OFF” single thyristor memorycells are turned “ON” can benefit from the previously described reducedpower Write operation for cross-coupled thyristor SRAM cells. In theWrite operation description above the bit line connected to the “OFF”thyristor memory cell which is to be written to an “ON” state is heldhigh to guarantee that the thyristor receives the maximum Write voltageduring the duration of the Write operation pulse to turn the thyristor“ON”. Once the thyristor turns “ON”, the newly “ON” thyristor conductsthe maximum “ON” current while the thyristor's bit line is held high.This increases the power consumption during the Write operation. Moreimportantly, the word line must carry away the current from all thecells on the row so that this current can be very large. This can causea significant voltage drop along the word line due to the electricalresistance of the line and may result in instability in the memoryarray.

This situation can be ameliorated by pre-charging the bit line to the“OFF” cell high prior to the Write pulse in a fashion similar to a Readoperation described above as illustrated in FIG. 9L. FIG. 9M is arepresentation of the voltages at various locations of the FIG. 9Lmemory cell. After the pre-charge, the pre-charge is turned off to allowthe bit line to “float” until the memory cell flips state. At that pointthe current through the newly “ON” thyristor pulls the bit line low(similar to a Read operation). As the bit line voltage falls, thevoltage drop across the thyristor decreases and the current falls towardthe minimum holding current. Again, there are three benefits. First, thepeak current is reduced because the bit line voltage starts to dropbefore the internal voltages in the memory cell turn the thyristor fully“ON”. Secondly, the now narrow current pulse (shown by the shape ofI_(ThyL) in FIG. 9M) reduces the power dissipated in the Writeoperation. Thirdly, since from a statistical standpoint the variouscells in the row being written flip at different times, the peak currentin the word line is reduced and spread over a larger time interval,further minimizing the undesirable voltage drop along the word line.

FIG. 9N illustrates the low power Write operation for a single thyristorcell in which the connections to the word and bit lines are reversedcompared to that of FIG. 9L. That is, the FIG. 9N memory cell has itsthyristor anode connected to the word line and its cathode to the bitline. FIG. 9O is a representation of the voltages at various locationsof the FIG. 9N memory cell. In this example, the bit line to the “OFF”cell is pre-charged low prior to the Write pulse (similar to a Readoperation). Then the pre-charge path is turned off to allow the bit lineto “float” until the memory cell flips state. At that point currentthrough the newly “ON” thyristor pulls the bit line high (similar to aRead operation). As the bit line rises, the voltage drop across thethyristor decreases and the current drops toward the minimum holdingcurrent. The same benefits as described in the previous paragraph areachieved. First, the peak current is reduced because the bit linevoltage starts to rise before the internal voltages in the memory cellturn the thyristor fully “ON”. Secondly, the now narrow current pulse(shown by the shape of I_(ThyL) in FIG. 9O) reduces the power dissipatedin the Write operation. Thirdly, since from a statistical standpoint thevarious cells in the row being written flip at different times, the peakcurrent in the word line is reduced and spread over a larger timeinterval, further minimizing the undesirable voltage drop along the wordline.

II. Description of Integrated Circuit Structures and Manufacture

The memory cells described above can be manufactured using existingmanufacturing technology. New semiconductor fabrication operations arenot required, eliminating the expense and complication associated withnew process development steps. As a point of departure, FIG. 10illustrates the basic steps in a CMOS process commonly used today. FIG.10 illustrates a well-known prior art complementary metal oxidesemiconductor (CMOS) process employing a P-conductivity type substrate.In the discussion that follows, the process illustrated in FIG. 10 isreferred to herein as a “standard CMOS process.” The process begins withformation of an annular region of insulating material (not shown),typically silicon dioxide, to isolate regions of the semiconductor fromeach other prior to formation of the transistors in the substrate. (Thisprocess is discussed below in conjunction with FIG. 11.) FIG. 10illustrates one such isolated region. Then as shown in step 1, a layerof silicon dioxide is grown on the P conductivity type silicon substrateproviding a field oxide. Next, in step 2, using conventionalsemiconductor manufacturing techniques, a layer of photoresist (notshown) is defined over the field oxide to enable removal of the fieldoxide in a location where an N-conductivity type well is to be formed.Then, using ion implantation, or other well-known technology,N-conductivity type impurity is implanted into the substrate to definethe N-well.

As next shown by step 4, another masking operation is performed toexpose the substrate and the location where the NMOS transistor is to beformed. Gate oxide is then formed over this portion of the substrate aswell as over the N-well. The appearance of the structure at this stageof the process is shown by step 5. As shown in step 6, a layer ofpolycrystalline silicon is deposited across the surface of thesemiconductor. This layer will ultimately become the gates of thecomplementary MOS transistors.

Using another masking operation, the polysilicon layer and the gateoxide layer are etched to remove them in the locations where the sourcesand drains are to be formed for the complementary MOS transistors. Theappearance of the structure is shown at step 7. Next, in separateoperations the N-conductivity type and P-conductivity type impurity usedto form the sources and drains of the transistors are implanted into thesubstrate. This is shown at step 8.

A dielectric layer such as silicon dioxide or silicon nitride is thendeposited across the surface of the structure, and etched to expose thelocations for ohmic contacts to the sources and drains. These operationsare shown in steps 9 and 10. As shown by step 11, a metal layer, forexample aluminum, or other electrically conductive material, is thendeposited across the surface of the structure to provide electricalconnections to the sources and drains, as well as the gates. Finally, asshown by step 12, the metal is etched to provide the metalinterconnections to the CMOS transistors.

a. Shallow Trench Isolation

FIG. 11 illustrates a well-known process for forming shallow trenchoxide isolation regions in integrated circuits. These regions are shownin many of the figures here, for example, region 111 in FIG. 13. Theprocess shown in FIG. 11, as well as similar variants, is commonlyreferred to as shallow trench isolation, and is preferred over theprevious technique, commonly referred to as local oxidation of silicon(LOCOS). In the shallow trench process a thin layer of silicon dioxideformed on the upper surface of the silicon substrate and then a layer ofsilicon nitride over that. Photoresist is then used to define areaswhere the shallow trenches are to be formed. The combined layers ofsilicon oxide, silicon nitride and photoresist are illustrated as asingle layer 170 in FIG. 11A. At locations desired for isolationregions, trenches 171 are etched into the substrate as shown in FIG.11B. The trench is then oxidized to fill it with silicon dioxide beforechemical-mechanical planarization. For SRAM cells in this invention, aslight modification of the conventional trench isolation process can beoptionally used for better isolation between the buried n-wells servingas thyristor cathodes. Here a conformal oxide or nitride is depositedand anisotropically etched to form a spacer of silicon dioxide 172 onthe sidewalls of the trenches. If desired, an optional P-conductivitytype impurity 173 is implanted into the structure to provide buried Pregions for improved isolation of the “tubs” formed between thetrenches. This procedure is then followed by the conventional trenchfill and planarization.

b. Bipolar Transistor

A collateral development from the thyristor-based SRAM cells describedabove is described next. The SRAM cells described below preferablyemploy bipolar transistors, usually embodied as thyristors formed bymerged PNP and NPN bipolar transistors. For this reason we firstdescribe a preferred implementation for a bipolar transistor and aprocess for making it. FIG. 12 illustrates a semiconductor structure incross-section for a bipolar transistor/thyristor manufactured using aCMOS process. The use of a CMOS process for manufacture of bipolartransistors is particularly advantageous to the preferred embodimentshere. That approach enables a CMOS logic circuit to be formed on acommon substrate with high speed bipolar SRAM, for example, providing acache memory for such a logic circuit, without need for more complicatedand expensive BiCMOS process technology.

The structure depicted in FIG. 12 includes a P-type substrate 110 havingshallow trench isolation regions 111. The annular shallow trenchisolation shown in cross-section in FIG. 12 encircles a region 121 ofthe substrate within which the bipolar transistor is disposed. Not shownare other isolation regions at cross-sections in front of, and behind,the one illustrated in FIG. 12 that isolate this region of thesemiconductor from other portions of the chip. Isolation 121 defines thesides of a “tub” in the substrate, with the bottom of the tub beingdefined by a buried N-conductivity type well 112. The buried N-type well112 is preferably implanted into the substrate through both the siliconand the trench isolation 111. The tub 121 electrically isolates activeor passive devices formed therein.

Note that in the depicted embodiment an electrical contact 114 to theburied n-well 112 is made by extending the n-type layer beneath aportion of the isolation region 111 to join more highly doped N-typeregion 114 that provides electrical contact to well 112 from the surfaceof the semiconductor. In an alternate embodiment the contact 114 isplaced inside the annular trench isolation region 111. This contact tothe buried N-well 112 could also be made within the isolation region121.

A strongly doped N-type region 115 provides the emitter of the verticalbipolar transistor, with region 113 providing the base and region 112the collector. Metal contacts 119, 118, and 120 provide electricalconnections to the emitter, base, and collector, respectively. Theregions 117 are unused (dummy) CMOS gate regions used to defineseparation spacing among the various components of the bipolartransistor shown in FIG. 12. The purpose of these dummy gate regions isdiscussed further in conjunction with the figures below.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating the steps in a process forfabricating the semiconductor structure illustrated in FIG. 11. Theprocess begins with formation of trench isolation regions in step 125 asdescribed above in conjunction with FIG. 11. Next, in step 126,operations 1 and 2 as described with respect to FIG. 10 are performed.Then the buried N-well 112 is masked and implanted as shown by step 127.This step is shown in more detail in FIG. 14A illustrating thephotoresist mask 114 and the N-well implant that will ultimately providea word line (or other functionality). Then step 128 is performed toimplant the P-type well 113, as also illustrated in FIG. 14B.

Next, as shown by step 129, conventional CMOS processing to form a fieldeffect transistor gate is performed as per steps 5, 6, and 7 in FIG. 10.In the illustration of FIG. 14C, the gate thus formed includes gateoxide 136, a conductive electrode 137 (typically polycrystallinesilicon) and nitride spacer 138. The gate region includes the residualsilicon nitride 138 that remains on the sidewalls of the gate electrode137 after the nitride layer is masked and etched away in a well-knownmanner.

Importantly in our process, however, the FET gate and gate oxide formedby this process are not used later as a gate electrode. Instead the gateis used to provide a “hard mask” which is later used to enable aself-aligned doping of the bipolar transistor emitter and the transistorbase contact. As shown in FIG. 14C a photoresist mask 134 is used toprotect one side of the gate region while an emitter implant isintroduced on the other side of the gate 137. This N-conductivity typebipolar emitter 115 is implanted in the same operation as the N-typesources and drains for MOS transistors being formed on the sameintegrated circuit. Note that the hard mask formed by the gate 137provides the left edge of the photoresist 134 to have wide tolerance inits positioning, i.e. this left edge can fall anywhere over the gate,yet still protect the base contact region 116 from receiving the N-typedopant of the emitter 115. In the various embodiments described below a“dummy” gate electrode is used to define the spacing between variousregions. It will be appreciated, however, that it is not necessary toactually form a gate electrode. Instead a silicon dioxide/siliconnitride sandwich structure can be used, or other layers. One advantageof using a gate electrode is that this electrode is being formed in thesame process operations as gates for CMOS logic are being formedelsewhere on the integrated circuit.

Referring to FIG. 14D, at step 131 of FIG. 13, the P-type base pick-upimplant 116 is introduced. As with the emitter doping, the use of thedummy gate enables a large tolerance for the location of the right edgeof photoresist 139. The bipolar base connection is shown in FIG. 14D bybase contact region 116. Conventional CMOS processes are then used toprovide metal electrical connections as needed among the variousregions. Examples of these metal connections are illustrated below.

c. Lateral Bipolar Transistor

Instead of a vertical bipolar transistor, FIG. 15 illustrates anembodiment of the invention in which a lateral NPN bipolar transistor isprovided. This is achieved by using the same N-type implant by which theemitter 115 was formed in the process described immediately above, toalso form the collector region 140 in FIG. 15. An electrical contact tothe P-well base region is formed either outside the annular trenchisolation as depicted, or internally to that region at a cross-sectionother than the one depicted in FIG. 15. Because they require moresubstrate surface area, lateral bipolar transistors have increased basewidth, and thus usually have poorer performance than vertical bipolartransistors. In some applications where the number of masking steps isimportant, however, lateral bipolar transistors can be advantageous.

FIG. 16 illustrates a process for forming the structure shown in FIG.15. In the case of FIG. 16, and all subsequent figures here, the step offorming the trench isolation is not described, but is carried out beforethe process illustrated by the flowchart in the figure. In addition, theconventional steps of the CMOS process such as forming metal contacts,e.g. as illustrated by FIG. 10, are not described again here.

d. NMOS FET Merged Bipolar Transistor

FIGS. 17A-17D illustrate a process for forming an NMOS transistor mergedwith a vertical NPN bipolar transistor. Such a structure can be used inmany applications beyond SRAMs, for example, voltage controlledoscillators, phase lock loop circuits, amplifiers, etc. The merged PMOSand/or NMOS structures recognizes that when we use the standard CMOSNFET/PFET self-aligned source/drain processing sequence to define thesurface connections to the bipolar junction transistors (P+ anode, N+shallow N-well connection, P+ P-well connection), the resulting“un-intended FET” formed between the BJT terminals can be usedadvantageously to enhance the operation of the BJT circuit—in thesituations described herein, in assisting the write operation of thethyristor as described above.

In the same manner as described above, FIG. 17A illustrates theimplantation of a buried N-well which will become the NPN collector, andFIG. 17B the implantation of a shallow P-type well providing the NPNbase. In FIG. 17C, FET gate regions have been formed which function asmasks for the implantation of the N-type impurity for the NMOS sourceand drain. As shown in FIG. 17D, this N-type dopant also forms theemitter 163 and collector contact 161 for the vertical bipolartransistor. The dummy MOS gate 162 establishes the separation betweenthe collector contact and the emitter. Regions 163 and 165 are the NMOStransistor source and drain, with a (functional) gate 164. Implant 166provides a connection to the P-type region forming the base of thevertical NPN transistor. The NPN collector 167 is provided by the buriedN-well.

e. SRAM Cell with FET Select Transistors

FIGS. 18A and 18B illustrate in cross-section the SRAM cell whosecircuit schematic is shown in FIG. 3B. The SRAM cell consists of twopairs of cross-coupled bipolar transistors with MOS selectiontransistors coupled to the word line. The structure shown in FIG. 18A isformed in one tub isolated by shallow trench isolation regions, whilethe structure shown in FIG. 18B is formed in an adjacent tub.Connections between the two tubs are provided by metal interconnectionsshown at the top of each of FIGS. 18A and 18B and indicated as commonlyconnected by the double headed arrows between them. In FIG. 18A, a firstlayer of metal 182 provides a connection between the voltage supplyV_(DD) and the PNP emitter regions 186. Other separate regions of thefirst metal 182 provide a connection 188 between the transistor bases.The buried N-well region 184 provides a connection to the emitters ofthe NPN transistors. An electrical connection to this buried N-well isprovided by a separate contact to that region 185 to the left of thefigure where the buried well extends under the trench isolation region.

A second layer of metal 181 provides an electrical connection to theshallow N-well that provides the base of the NPN transistor 186 and onenode of the NMOS selection transistor 187. The second layer of metal 181also provides another connection (in a cross section not depicted inFIG. 18A or 18B) between the base of the PNP transistors 188 and theother node of the NMOS selection transistor 189. A third layer of metal180 provides the bit line connections to the SRAM cell, with the bitline shown in FIG. 18A being coupled to one of the cross-coupled bipolarpairs, and the bit line shown in FIG. 18B being coupled to the other ofthe cross coupled bipolar pairs. FIG. 19 is a top view of the SRAM cellillustrating its layout on an integrated circuit.

FIGS. 20A-20D illustrate in more detail portions of the process forforming the SRAM cell shown in FIGS. 18 and 19 above. As shown in FIG.20A, after formation of the buried N-well to provide a V_(SS)connection, the P-well is implanted through an opening in photoresistmask PR. Then, using another mask as shown by FIG. 20B, an N-typeimplant is performed to create the shallow N-well. As shown in FIG. 20C,after formation of dummy gate regions for the bipolar (left) side of thestructure and functional gate regions for the FET (right) side of thestructure, the NPN bipolar emitters, and the N-type sources and drainsfor the FETs are implanted in one operation with N-conductivity typeimpurity. Following that step, as shown in FIG. 20D, appropriate maskingis performed to enable implantation of the P-type dopants to form theother electrodes of the bipolar (thyristor) devices. This step alsoforms PFET sources and drains elsewhere on the integrated circuit. Theresult is a compact fast SRAM cell that employs FETs as selecttransistors.

f. SRAM Cell with Bipolar Select Transistors

FIGS. 21A and 21B illustrate cross-sections of an SRAM cell in whichbipolar transistors are used as select transistors. (FIG. 3A is acircuit schematic for this cell.) As with the figures above, the devicesillustrated in the cross-section of FIG. 21A are formed in one tub andthe devices illustrated in the cross-section of FIG. 21B are formed inan adjacent tub, with metal interconnections between the two. Theleft-hand portion of FIGS. 21A and 21B correspond to the bipolarstructure described in FIGS. 18A and 18B (in which MOS transistors areused as select transistors). The right-hand portion of FIGS. 21A and 21Billustrate the use of bipolar selection transistors instead of the FETsillustrated in FIGS. 18A and 18B. These bipolar select transistorscorrespond to those depicted in the circuit schematic of FIG. 3A. InFIGS. 21A and 21B, the select transistors are vertical NPN bipolartransistors. Emitter 200, base 201, and collector 202 form one of theNPN select transistors. A strongly doped N-conductivity type region isused to provide a connection to the buried N-well 202, which alsoprovides the bit line. Of course, vertical PNP bipolar transistors orlateral bipolar transistors could also be used as select transistors.

A top view of the SRAM cell in FIGS. 21A and 21B is shown in FIG. 22.The SRAM cell can be manufactured using the process flow operationsdescribed with respect to FIG. 18 et seq. Particular masking andimplantation steps are shown in more detail in FIGS. 23A-23E. As shownin FIG. 23A, after formation of shallow trench isolation regions, thedeep buried N-wells are implanted. Then, as shown in FIG. 23B, followingappropriate masking operations, a shallow P-well implant is performed.Next, as shown in FIG. 23C, the shallow N-well is implanted into only aportion of one of the shallow P-well regions, thus leaving room for alater contact to the P-well. As shown by FIG. 23D, after formation ofdummy FET gates and functional FET gates elsewhere on the integratedcircuit, appropriate masking steps are performed and an N-type implantis used to dope the emitters of the vertical NPN bipolar transistors, aswell as the sources and drains of the NMOS transistors elsewhere on thesubstrate. Then, as shown in FIG. 23E, after another masking step,P-type dopant is implanted to form the P-type emitters the PNP bipolartransistors, as well as the sources and drains of the PMOS transistorssituated elsewhere on the substrate.

e. SRAM Cell in Deep Well

FIG. 24 illustrates another embodiment of the invention in which an SRAMcell structure is formed using a deep N-well. To function moreefficiently, a bipolar SRAM cell prefers a voltage higher than standardlogic core voltage, as described earlier. One way to achieve this is touse a higher voltage as the SRAM power supply, for example, V_(DDIO) ora voltage derived from V_(DDIO), i.e. about 1.5-2.5 volts with presenttechnology of 28 nanometer design rules. Another approach is illustratedin FIG. 24. In this approach the SRAM cell is formed in a deep P-well222 in a deep N-well 221 in the substrate 220. This allows the P-well222 to be biased negatively. With bipolar select transistors, thisapproach allows the word line driver circuits to use core logic levels,e.g., voltage swings from 0 volts to 1.0 volts. A deep strongly dopedregion 223 is used to provide electrical contact to the deep N-well 221.First introducing the deep N-well implant 221, and then doping theP-well 222 form the structure illustrated in FIG. 31. Semiconductorprocessing as described above can then form the SRAM cell. In anappropriate stage of the process a heavily doped implant is used toprovide the connection 223 to the deep N-well 221.

f. Three Transistor SRAM Cell

FIG. 25 is a cross-section of a 3-transistor SRAM cell whose circuitschematic is shown in FIG. 8A. This cell has cross-coupled NPN and PNPbipolar transistors which are illustrated as being in the left-handportion of the figure. An MOS select transistor is shown on the righthand side of the illustration. The power supply V_(DD) 230 is coupled tothe emitter 231 of the PNP transistor, while the ground connection iscoupled through a buried N-well 232 to the collector of the NPNtransistor. The word line 233 is coupled to the gate of the MOStransistor, while the bit line 234 is coupled to an electrode of the MOStransistor. A connection 235 in the first layer metal couples the N-typebase of the PNP transistor to the other electrode of the MOS transistor.A word line 236 for the SRAM cell next to the illustrated SRAM cell isshown on the right hand side of the figure.

FIG. 26 is a top view of the layout of the 3-transistor SRAM cellillustrated in FIG. 25. Regions illustrated in FIG. 26 that correspondto regions in FIG. 25 are given the same reference numerals as those inFIG. 25.

g. Four Transistor SRAM Cell

FIGS. 27A and 27B are cross-sectional views at two locations of a4-transistor SRAM cell. The structure is almost identical to thatdescribed with respect to FIG. 18. In contrast with that structure,however, the structure of FIGS. 27A and 27B use the buried N-well 240 toprovide the word line, and requires only two layers of metal, instead ofthree. A circuit schematic for the 4-transistor cell is shown in FIG.4A. The bit line (FIG. 27B), and complementary bit line (FIG. 27A), arecoupled to the emitters 242 of the PNP bipolar transistors. The arrowslabeled “Ml” illustrate the use of the first layer metal to providecross coupling between the base of the PNP transistor and the collectorof the NPN transistor, and between the base of the NPN transistors andthe collector of the PNP transistors. FIG. 28 is a top view of thestructure shown in FIGS. 27A and 27B.

h. Four Transistor SRAM Cell with Write Assist FETs

FIGS. 29A and 29B illustrate cross-sectional views of a 4-transistorSRAM cell with the additional write assist FETs 250 earlier described inconjunction with the circuit schematic shown in FIG. 7. The write assistFETs 250 (PMOS transistors 46A and 46B in FIG. 7), when turned on, shortthe collector to the base of the lateral PNP bipolar transistors. Thewrite assist capacitors 251 (capacitors 47A and 47B in FIG. 7) describedabove are also illustrated in the figure. FIG. 30 is a top view of thestructure shown in FIGS. 29A and 29B.

g. Two Transistor SRAM Cell

FIG. 31 is cross-sectional views of a two bipolar transistor memory cellwith write assist FETs provided to short the bipolar transistors, asneeded, for writing data. The cell circuit was discussed above withregard to FIG. 9B. The upper PNP transistor in FIG. 31 includes emitter281, base 282 and collector 283 with the gate (PFET) 284 able to shortthe emitter and collector. Similarly the lower NPN transistor includescollector 284, base 285 and emitter 286. The gate (NFET) can short theemitter and collector. Note that the shallow N-well cross-couples thePNP base 282 to the NPN collector 284, while the P-well cross-couplesthe NPN base 285 to the PNP emitter 281. The buried N-well 288 and itscoupling 289 to the second layer of metal provides the bit line, whilethe word line is coupled to the PNP emitter. In an alternativeembodiment with the word line on the bottom, the word line is coupled tothe NPN collector. The structure shown in FIG. 31 can be manufacturedusing the process described with regard to FIG. 18.

i. Manufacturing Process Details

FIG. 32 illustrates a detail of the manufacturing process usedthroughout the various embodiments described above. In particular, usingCMOS technology, the gates for the MOS transistors can be used in theprocess in which bipolar transistors are formed. Using CMOS technologyto define gate regions, instead of being used as gates, those regionscan be used to define the spacing of the various bipolar transistorregions. In FIG. 32 a first “dummy” gate 260 is used to set the spacingbetween N doped emitter 261 and a nearby P-doped region 262. In asimilar manner, another “dummy” gate 263 is used to define the spacingbetween a P doped contact region 264 for a well and the P-doped region262. This technique allows the use of CMOS process technology to formbipolar transistors, yet have those bipolar regions self-aligned tovarious other desired regions in the integrated circuit.

FIG. 33 is a graph illustrating typical dopant concentrations for thevertical bipolar transistors described with regard to the figures above.The graph shows the net doping of the various regions used to form thebipolar transistors in preferred embodiments of the invention.

This description of the invention has been presented for the purposes ofillustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise form described, and manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the teachingabove. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to bestexplain the principles of the invention and its practical applications.This description will enable others skilled in the art to best utilizeand practice the invention in various embodiments and with variousmodifications as are suited to a particular use. The scope of theinvention is defined by the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. In an integrated circuit having at leastone logic circuit operating within a MOSFET logic circuit range and aplurality of memory cells arranged in an array interconnected by aplurality of complementary bit line pairs and a plurality of word lines,each memory cell comprising: a pair of cross-coupled thyristors, eachthyristor having an anode and a cathode connected directly to acomplementary bit line pair and a word line in a cross pointarrangement; and each thyristor having regions electrically biased sothat voltage swings on the complementary bit line pair and the wordline, operating within a magnitude of the MOSFET logic circuit range,are sufficient to read and write the memory cell.
 2. The memory cell ofclaim 1 wherein the cathodes of the two thyristors are biased negativelyapproximately 0.5 volts with respect to the bottom of the MOSFET logiccircuit range.
 3. The memory cell of claim 1 wherein the anodes of thetwo thyristors are biased positively approximately 0.5 volts withrespect to the top of the MOSFET logic circuit range.
 4. The memory cellof claim 1 wherein the MOSFET logic circuit range extends fromapproximately 0 to 1.0 volt.
 5. The memory cell of claim 1 wherein theanode of one thyristor is connected to one of the complementary bit linepair, the anode of the other thyristor is connected to the other of thecomplementary bit line pair, and the cathodes of both thyristors areconnected to the word line.
 6. The memory cell of claim 1 wherein theanodes of both thyristors are connected to the word line, the cathode ofone of the thyristors is connected to one of the complementary bit linepair, the cathode of the other thyristor is connected to the other ofthe complementary bit line pair.
 7. For an integrated circuit having anarray of memory cells interconnected by a plurality of complementary bitline pairs and a plurality of word lines, each SRAM cell having a pairof cross-coupled thyristors, each thyristor having an anode and acathode connected directly to a complementary bit line pair and a wordline in a cross point arrangement, a method of writing into an SRAM cellcomprising: initially holding the plurality of complementary bit linepairs at a first voltage and the plurality of word lines at a secondvoltage, the voltage imposed on each SRAM cell by the complementary bitline pairs and word lines between half of a forward-biased PN junctionvoltage and one forward-biased PN junction voltage, the logic state ineach SRAM cell being maintained; selecting at least one SRAM cell;driving one of the complementary bit line pair connected to the selectedSRAM cell to a third voltage, the driven bit line selected responsive tothe logic state to be written into the selected SRAM cell; and drivingthe word line connected to the selected SRAM cell to a fourth voltage sothat the voltage imposed by the word line and one of the complementarybit line pair on one thyristor of the selected SRAM cell is greater thanthe sum of a forward-biased PN junction voltage and the saturationvoltage between emitter and collector of a PNP bipolar transistor, andthe voltage imposed by the word line and the other of the complementarybit line pair on the other thyristor of the selected SRAM cell isbetween half of a forward-biased PN junction voltage and oneforward-biased PN junction voltage; whereby the one thyristor of theselected SRAM is turned ON, and the other thyristor of the selected SRAMis turned OFF.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the voltage imposed onthe one thyristor is about 1.4 volts.
 9. The method of claim 7 whereinthe voltage imposed on the other thyristor is about 0.4 volts.
 10. Themethod of claim 7 wherein in the initially holding step the voltageimposed on each SRAM cell by the plurality of complementary bit linepairs and the plurality of word lines is in a range between about 0.3 to0.8 volts.
 11. The method of claim 9 wherein in the initially holdingstep the voltage imposed on each SRAM cell by the plurality ofcomplementary bit line pairs and the plurality of word lines is about0.4 volts.
 12. The method of claim 7 wherein the anode of one thyristorin each SRAM cell is connected to one of the complementary bit linepairs, the anode of the other thyristor in each SRAM cell is connectedto the other of the complementary bit line pairs, and the cathodes ofboth thyristors of each SRAM cell is connected to a word line.
 13. Themethod of claim 12 wherein the first voltage is about 1.4 volts and thesecond voltage is about 0.75 volts.
 14. The method of claim 13 whereinthe third voltage is about 0.4 volts and the fourth voltage is about 0volts.
 15. The method of claim 7 wherein the anodes of both thyristorsin each SRAM cell are connected to a word line, the cathode of the onethyristor in each SRAM cell is connected to the one of the complementarybit line pairs, and the cathode of the other thyristor of each SRAM cellis connected to the other of the complementary bit line pairs.
 16. Themethod of claim 15 wherein the first voltage is about 0 volts and thesecond voltage is about 0.65 volts.
 17. The method of claim 16 whereinthe third voltage is about 1.0 volts and the fourth voltage is about 1.4volts.
 18. For an integrated circuit having an array of memory cellsinterconnected by a plurality of complementary bit line pairs and aplurality of word lines, each SRAM cell having a pair of cross-coupledthyristors, each thyristor having an anode and a cathode connecteddirectly to a complementary bit line pair and a word line in a crosspoint arrangement, a method of reading an SRAM cell comprising: holdingthe plurality of word lines at a first reading voltage; pre-charging theplurality of complementary bit line pairs to a second reading voltage,the voltage imposed on each SRAM cell by the complementary bit linepairs and word lines between half of a forward-biased PN junctionvoltage and one forward-biased PN junction voltage, the logic state ineach SRAM cell being maintained; allowing the plurality of complementarybit line pairs to float at the second reading voltage, selecting atleast one SRAM cell, the selected SRAM cell having one thyristor in anON state and the other thyristor in an OFF state; and driving the wordline connected to the selected SRAM cell to a third reading voltage sothat the thyristor which is ON in the selected SRAM cells pulls thevoltage on one of the complementary bit line pair connected to the ONthyristor toward the third reading voltage from the first readingvoltage and the thyristor which is OFF leaves the voltage on the otherof the complementary bit line pair connected to the OFF thyristorunaffected; whereby the difference in voltages on the one and the otherof the complementary bit line pair allows the state of the selected SRAMcell to be read.
 19. The method of claim 18 wherein the voltage acrossthe ON thyristor when the word line is driven to the third readingvoltage is 1.4 volts.
 20. The method of claim 18 wherein the anode ofone thyristor in each SRAM cell is connected to one of the complementarybit line pairs, the anode of the other thyristor in each SRAM cell isconnected to the other of the complementary bit line pairs, and thecathodes of both thyristors of each SRAM cell is connected to a wordline.
 21. The method of claim 20 wherein the first reading voltage isabout 0.75 volts.
 22. The method of claim 20 wherein the second readingvoltage is about 1.4 volts.
 23. The method of claim 20 wherein the thirdreading voltage is about 0 volts.
 24. The method of claim 18 wherein theanodes of both thyristors in each SRAM cell are connected to a wordline, the cathode of the one thyristor in each SRAM cell is connected tothe one of the complementary bit line pairs, and the cathode of theother thyristor of each SRAM cell is connected to the other of thecomplementary bit line pairs.
 25. The method of claim 24 wherein thefirst reading voltage is about 0.65 volts.
 26. The method of claim 24wherein the second reading voltage is about 0 volts.
 27. The method ofclaim 24 wherein the third reading voltage is about 1.4 volts.
 28. In anintegrated circuit having an array of SRAM cells interconnected by aplurality of pairs of complementary bit lines and a plurality of wordlines, each SRAM cell having a pair of cross-coupled thyristors, eachthyristor having an anode connected directly to one of the complementarybit line pair and a cathode connected directly to a word line, each SRAMcell holding a binary logic state, a method of maintaining the array ofSRAM cells in standby, comprising: connecting pluralities of SRAM cellsto a current supply with a current sufficiently large so as to maintainthem in their logic states; and disconnecting the current supply to aplurality of SRAM cells when that plurality of SRAM cells is addressedfor a read or write operation.
 29. The method of claim 28 wherein in theconnecting step the pluralities of SRAM cells are connected in parallelto the word lines.
 30. The method of claim 28 wherein in the connectingstep the pluralities of SRAM cells are connected in parallel to the bitlines.
 31. In an integrated circuit having an array of SRAM cellsinterconnected by a plurality of pairs of complementary bit lines and aplurality of word lines, each SRAM cell having a pair of cross-coupledthyristors, each thyristor having an anode connected directly to a wordline and a cathode connected directly to a one of the complementary bitline pair, each SRAM cell holding a binary logic state, a method ofmaintaining the array of SRAM cells in standby, comprising: connectingpluralities of SRAM cells to a current supply with a currentsufficiently large so as to maintain them in their logic states; anddisconnecting the current supply to a plurality of SRAM cells when thatplurality of SRAM cells is addressed for a read or write operation. 32.The method of claim 31 wherein in the connecting step the pluralities ofSRAM cells are connected in parallel to the word lines.
 33. The methodof claim 31 wherein in the connecting step the pluralities of SRAM cellsare connected in parallel to the bit lines.
 34. For an integratedcircuit having an array of memory cells interconnected by a plurality ofcomplementary bit line pairs and a plurality of word lines, each SRAMcell having a pair of cross-coupled thyristors, each thyristor having ananode and a cathode connected directly to a complementary bit line pairand a word line in a cross point arrangement, a method of writing intoan SRAM cell comprising: initially holding the plurality ofcomplementary bit line pairs at a first voltage and the plurality ofword lines at a second voltage, the voltage imposed on each SRAM cell bythe complementary bit line pairs and word lines between half of aforward-biased PN junction voltage and one forward-biased PN junctionvoltage, the logic state in each SRAM cell being maintained; selectingat least one SRAM cell; precharging one of the complementary bit linepair connected to one of the thyristors in the selected SRAM cell to athird voltage, the one thyristor in an OFF state; allowing the voltageon the one of the complementary bit line pair to float; driving theother of the complementary bit line pair connected to the other of thethyristors in the selected SRAM cell to fourth voltage, the otherthyristor is an ON state; driving the word line connected to theselected SRAM cell to a fifth voltage so that the voltage imposed by theword line and one of the complementary bit line pair on the onethyristor of the selected SRAM cell is greater than the sum of aforward-biased PN junction voltage and the saturation voltage betweenemitter and collector of a PNP bipolar transistor turning the OFFthyristor ON and pulling the voltage on the one of the complementary bitline toward the fourth voltage, and the voltage imposed by the word lineand the other of the complementary bit line pair on the other thyristorof the selected SRAM cell is between half of a forward-biased PNjunction voltage and one forward-biased PN junction voltage turning theother thyristor from ON to OFF; whereby the one thyristor of theselected SRAM is turned ON, and the other thyristor of the selected SRAMis turned OFF.